Casing cutting apparatus



Sept. 25, 1962 J BRENDLE ET AL 3,055,045

CASING CUTTING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. '21, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTORY Bvenclle \A/al'fev- H- B'Eldvwf Emmi. EU FI I I I l I I I I lUIH UH H l l l l l l l H H l l l l .IH H I H H l l l l l l l l l HHH H HATTORNEY Sept. 25, 1962 J. A. BRENDLE ETAL 3,055,045

CASING CUTTING APPARATUS olgglnal Filed Feb. 21, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIII INVENTORS John A BVCWJE 3,055,045 CASING CUTTING APPARATU John A.Brendle, La Grange, and Walter H. Beland,

Chicago, Ill., assignors to Swift 3: Company, Chicago,

111., a corporation of iiiinois Original application Feb. 21, 1955, Ser.No. 489,532. Di-

vided and this application Apr. 29, 1953, Ser. No.

Claims. ((11. 171) The present invention relates to a method andapparatus for cutting the casing about a product that is at leastsemi-flexible, such as for example a sausage, as a preliminary step toremoving the casing from the product. The embodiments of the inventionwere developed particularly for use in sausage operations and theinvention will be discussed particularly with respect to these fields.

With the general public acceptance of casingless sausages there has beena terrific problem in endeavoring to reduce the cost of removing thecasings from the sansages after they have been for-med. Many machinesand processes developed for the removal of the casings involve a stepwherein the casing is cut open so that the sausage may be removed fromthe casing. Difiiculties have been encountered in developing a methodand apparatus for performing this operation which will be positive inresult and yet will not damage the product. Obviously if only some ofthe casings are cut open or if the cut is incomplete, any subsequentapparatus for removing the casings is likely to jam up or not functionproperly because of such failure, and any damaged product becomesunsalable at least at a price equal to that at which the undamagedproduct is sold.

In some instances the product is damaged by reason of the cuttinginstrument penetrating substantially below the inner surface of thecasing. One of the reasons for the difiiculty is the fact that thesausages will vary slightly in size even though they ostensibly areuniform, and because they tend to warp, i.e. are not perfectly straight,as a result of the processing operations, with the amount of warpagevarying from sausage to sausage. A further problem is introduced byreason of the fact that the sansages have curved ends where they werelinked and the cut must extend at least a part Way around this end inorder to facilitate the removal of the sausage from the casing. Theprincipal object of the present invention is to provide a cutting methodand machine that will solve these problems, particularly in high volumemechanical operations.

A further object and advantage is to provide an apparatus that isrelatively simple in construction and a method that will permit theutilization of such an apparatus. This not only holds down the capitalinvestment but facilitates and reduces the maintenance requirements.

An additional object of the invention is to provide an apparatus thatwill hold the casing taut not only to faci1itate the cutting but toprovide some loosening of the adhesion between the casing and thesausage, thus facilitating the subsequent removal of the sausage fromthe casing. In one embodiment of this invention the casing is tensionedin two transverse directions, achieving better results in this respect.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of an embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the embodiment of the invention illustratedin FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged partial section taken at line 33 of FIGURE 2;

its rates atent "ice FIGURE 4 is an elevation of a second embodiment ofthe invention; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged section taken at line 5-5 of FIGURE 4.

The method of the present invention for cutting the casing of a sausageso that the sausage may be removed from the casing comprises bending thesausage into a curve and then drawing the outside, i.e. that portionhaving the longer radius, of the curved sausage along the cutting edgeof a sharp cutting instrument or the equivalent, drawing the cuttinginstrument past the curved sausage. A knife is used that has arelatively small area of contact with the sausage casing and preferablyis a rotary knife, although other forms of knives can be used whenpositioned in such a manner as to have a relatively small area ofcontact with the sausage casing. In one embodiment the sausage is notonly flexed longitudinally, but the casing is pulled circumferentiallyaway from the knife at the area of cutting to facilitate the cutting andassist in loosening the casing from the sausage.

Referring to FIGURES 1 through 3, the apparatus is mounted on a framegenerally 11 and comprises a conveyor generally 11 for transporting thestring of sausages, a knife generally 12 for cutting the casings, andholddown means generally 13 for the string of sausages. Frame 10includes an upright angle 15 on which are mounted bearings 16 and 17 forshafts 18 and 19, respectively.

A roller chain 21 carrying a plurality of holders 22 serves to do theactual conveying of the string of sausages. The chain rotates about apair of sprockets 23 and 24, the former being attached to shaft 18 andthe latter attached to shaft 19. Shaft 18 also carries a fixed sprocket25 and shaft 19 carries an identical sprocket 26. A tightly mountedchain 27 passes about both sprockets 25 and 26, the purpose of the chainbeing to transmit power from shaft 19 to shaft 18 otherwise than throughthe conveyor chain 21 so as to prevent any whipping or uneven movementof conveyor chain 21.

One of the important features of the present invention is the bending ofthe sausage into a curved configuration at the time the cutting takesplace. In the embodiment of FIGURES 1-3 this is achieved by causing thepath of travel of the conveyor 11 and thus the sausages transported bythe conveyor to follow a curvilinear path at one portion of the path oftravel. To achieve this end the top of angle 15 is cut to form a curveand a curved plate 29 is attached to the top of the angle 15 projectingoutwardly underneath chain 21 so that the chain rides on the top ofplate 29 with the plate 29 forming a track for the limiting of themovement of the conveyor 11. The curvilinear path that this gives thechain and thus the string of sausages being transported by the chain isreadily apparent in the area immediately below the knife 12 in FIGURE 1.

Power is supplied to the machine through shaft 31 from a suitable sourceof power (not shown). Shaft 31 is journaled in bearing 32 and carries atits upper end a bevel gear 33 which engages a similar bevel gear 34attached to an end of shaft 19.

Projecting upwardly as a part of frame 10 are a pair of posts 36 and 37on which slide a carriage 38. Carriage 38 carries both the knife 12 andthe hold-down means 13. Knife 12 comprises a rotary knife blade 40,having a circular cutting edge in a single plane, attached to one end ofa shaft 41. Shaft 41 is suitably journaled in carriage 38. At the otherend of shaft 41 is a sheave 42 which is driven by a larger sheave 43attached to the end of shaft 18 through a belt 4-4. A belt tightenergenerally 45 is used to pull the belt 44 in engagement with the sheavesand at the same time permit vertical movement of the carriage 38. Whilethe tightener 45 will permit vertical movement it will also exertdownward pressure on the belt 44 and thereby tend to urge the carriage38 downwardly.

About the portion of knife nearest conveyor 11 is a knife guard 47. Aswill be seen, the knife 4%) projects through the guard 47 in thedirection of the conveyor 11 a very short distance. This distance isadjusted to an amount just sufficient to slit the casing about thesausages but insufficient to project into the sausages an amount thatwill cause any damage to the product. The amount of this projection ofknife 4%) beyond guard 47 is adjusted by means of the mounting of theguard 47 on carriage 38. The two upper ends of the guard 4-7 areadjustably secured to the carriage 38 in any suitable Wellknown matter,such as by adjustable bolts 48 threaded into a boss 49 on carriage 38.By loosening bolts 48 the guard may be adjusted vertically by slidingthe slots in the guard along bolts 48 until the correct extension ofknife 40 through the guard 47 is obtained. Bolts 48 are then tightenedto lock the guard in place.

The hold-down means 13 comprises a plurality of rollers 52 with axialshafts 53 journaled in yokes 54. Yokes 54 are mounted on the ends ofsquare rods 55 slidably received in holders 56 attached to carriage 38.Lock washer 57 at the upper end of rods 55 limits the do-wn Wardmovement of the rollers 52. A second lock Washer 58 adjacent the yoke 54forms an abutment for springs 59 which are compressed between the lockwashers 58 and the lower of holders 56. The hold-down means incooperation with the guard 47 causes the string of sausages to conformto the configuration of conveyor fifl, particularly as the conveyor andstring of sausages pass over the curvilinear section of the track formedby plate 29. As a result of the bending of the sausages about thecurvilinear portion of the path of movement as defined by track 29, theknife 40 commences cutting down on the end of the sausage, passes acrossone side and then cut down across a portion of the following end of thesausage.

Carriage 58 floats on rods 36 and 37. The tension of springs 59 isadjusted with respect to the Weight of carriage 38 so that the guard 47rides on the top of the sausages with sufiicient pressure to bend thesausages to conform to the curvilinear portion of the conveyor 11 asdefined by track 29. This weight of the carriage 38 thus resilientlyurges the sausages into the holders 22 to obtain the desired flexing ofthe sausages.

Referring to FIGURES 4 and 5, this embodiment comprises a framegenerally 62 with the conveyor generally 63 taking the form of a wheelor sheave 64. Wheel 64 is mounted on the shaft 65 of a slow speed motor66 mounted on frame 62. Shaft 65 projects through an erect plate 67forming a part of frame 62 with the wheel 64 being on one side of theplate and the motor 66 being on the opposite side.

A pair of rubber belts 70 and 71 are used to resiliently urge thesausages against wheel 64. Belts 7t? and 71 pass about three pulleys 72,73 and 74. Pulley 72 is mounted on a shaft 75 journaled in a bearing 76attached to plate 67. At the other end of the shaft 65 is attachedanother pulley 77 which is driven by a belt 78 from a pulley 79 on shaft65. Pulley 73 is an idler pulley serving as a belt tightener and rotateson a shaft 84 secured to a block 85 movable in ways 86 in plate 67. Aspring 87 urges block 85 outwardly to hold 74 and 71 taut.

Pulley '74- is also an idler and rotates on a shaft 89 attached to plate67.

A rotary saw-toothed knife blade 92 is attached to shaft 93 of motor MaThe knife blade is given a floating mounting and is urged towards thewheel 64- by attaching motor 94 to a block 95 that slides in ways 96 inplate 67. A spring 97 urges block 95 in the direction of the wheel 64. Aknife guard 98 is attached to block 95 by means of bolts 99 with thesame adjustable feature as previously described with respect to guard 47to permit an adjustment in the amount that blade 92 projects beyondguard $8.

One feature of the present invention can be seen with reference toFIGURE 5. Here it will be noted that the outer edges of belts 7t and 71bear against abutments m2 on wheel 64. The belts are held taut by idlerpulley 73 and pull downwardly away from the edge of knife blade 2,drawing the casing 103 of sausage 1494 away from the edge of knife blade92. Thus the sausage casing is flexed in tWo direction, facilitating thecutting of the casing 103 and the loosening of the casing from thesausage 104.

After the casing is cut by the method and apparatus of the presentinvention the casing may then be removed from the sausage by variousstructures as for example that illustrated and described in Patent No.2,644,979, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Various modifications of the invention will be apparent to those skilledin the art and such modifications are deemed to be a part of theinvention to the extent that they are included in the appended claims.The description of specific embodiments was solely for the purpose ofcomplying with 35 U.S.C. 112. As previously mentioned, the invention wasdescribed as applying to sausage products although it could also beapplied in other fields where similar problems are encountered withrespect to the removal of a casing from a product that is at leastsemifiexible. The term casing is intended to apply to situations where askin is found about the product. The casing might be one of any numberof materials some of which might be a natural product and others ofwhich might be synthetic materials.

This is a division of our co-pending application Serial No. 489,532,filed February 21, 1955, now abandoned.

We claim:

1. A device for cutting the casing enclosing generally cylindricalflexible objects having curvilinear ends, said device including a frame,an endless conveyor mounted on said frame, supporting means on saidconveyor to hold said objects longitudinally with respect to saidconveyor, a track attached to said frame and supporting said conveyoralong at least a portion thereof, a portion of said track beingcurvilinear, a carriage mounted on said frame for movement toward andaway from said conveyor, said carriage being biased to move toward saidconveyor, a rotary knife having a circular cutting edge mounted on saidcarriage at the opposite side of said conveyor from said track andpositioned opposite said curvilinear portion of said track and betweenthe ends of said curvilinear portion, a guard mounted on said carriageand positioned about at least the portion of said knife adjacent saidconveyor with the cutting edge of said knife projecting beyond saidguard in the direction of said conveyor, a plurality of rollersresiliently mounted on said carriage in alignment with said path andextending in opposite directions in line with the cutting edge of saidknife to bear against the objects on said conveyor whereby said objectswill assume the curvilinear shape of said track during all times when incontact with said knife, and power means connected to said knife torotate said knife and to said conveyor to move said objects along saidpath.

2. A device for cutting the casing enclosing cylindrical flexibleobjects having curvilinear ends, said device including a frame, a wheelrotatively mounted on said frame, moving means to hold said objectsagainst the periphery of the wheel along a portion of the peripherythereof whereby said objects will assume the curvilinear shape of saidwheel throughout said portion, said means including a pair of endlessbelts trained for movement about parallel paths a portion of which passto either side of said objects held against said portion of theperiphery of the wheel, a rotary knife mounted on said frame andpositioned adjacent and between the ends of said portion of saidperiphery of the wheel intersecting the casing of the objects betweensaid endless belts, a

guard about at least the portion of said knife adjacent said wheel withthe cutting edge of said knife projecting beyond said guard in thedirection of said wheel, said knife and guard being resiliently urgedtoward said wheel, and power means connected to the wheel and the knifeto rotate the wheel and the knife.

3. A device for cutting the casing enclosing generally cylindricalflexible objects having curvilinear ends, said device including a frame,a rotary knife having a circular cutting edge mounted on said frame, anobject conveyor mounted on said frame and trained to move said objectslongitudinally past said knife along a fixed curvilinear pathsubstantially coplanar with said cutting edge, said knife intersectingthe casing of the objects between the ends of said curvilinear path,means urged toward said conveyor and positioned substantially parallelthereto extending in two directions beyond the cutting edge of saidknife to hold said objects against said conveyor throughout thecurvilinear path during all times when said knife is in contact withsaid objects, and power means connected to said knife to rotate saidknife and to said conveyor to move said objects along said path.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein the means urged toward said conveyorcomprises a plurality of rollers reciprocally mounted on said framesubstantially parallel to said conveyor to engage the sides of saidobjects opposite said conveyor.

5. The device of claim 3 wherein the means urged toward said conveyorcomprises a pair of endless belts trained for movement about paths aportion of which pass parallel to said conveyor and to either side ofsaid knife along said curvilinear path.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,360,363 Pope Oct. 17, 1944 2,369,360 Martin Feb. 13, 1945 2,644,979Ball July 14, 1953 2,699,570 Chambers et al. Ian. 18, 1955 2,779,968Hensgen Feb. 5, 1957

